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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/28): Matthew 13:24-43.

Oct28

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“.” Matthew

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REVIEW – Jesus began a season of speaking parables to the crowds instead of straight kingdom preaching. His reason? Israel did not WANT to hear, believe, and receive the kingdom of heaven that Jesus was offering. They wanted His physical healings, but weren’t interested in spiritual wholeness. They saw His miracles, but didn’t accept Him as their Messiah.

So, like the seed falling on hard-packed ground in the first parable, eaten by the birds before it could take root, Jesus’ clear preaching was taken away and replaced with parables to “tickle” their ears. Jesus told His disciples this was prophesied in Isaiah 6:9-10 as a judgment on Israel.

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The scary thing is that the Holy Spirit will only strive with people for so long; then a person’s heart will be TOO hardened to turn. (Genesis 6:3) God’s Spirit patiently convicts, warns, and pulls people toward repentance, but God does not let people persist in rebellion forever without consequence.

If you feel a heavy conviction or fear that God has stopped working in your life, the fact that you still care, feel a tug on your heart, or desire truth often shows the Spirit is still active and inviting you to turn to Him. “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon him while He is near. (Isaiah 55:6)

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(In 13:16, Jesus tells His disciples that THEIR eyes “see” and their ears “hear,” so THEY are blessed! “Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what YOU see and did not see it, and to hear what YOU hear and did not hear it.” I would say that YOU and I are among those blessed like the disciples.)

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Matthew 13:24-30.

Then Jesus speaks another parable to the crowd, which He later explains to His disciples.

“The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.

While his men were sleeping (normal rest, not negligence), the farmer’s enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat (then went away).

All the plants came up and began to form heads of grain. (Wheat heads stand tall pointing towards the sky, while the “darnel” (weed) heads angle downward.)

The workers immediately saw the problem and went to the farmer. “Didn’t you sow good seeds? How then does the field also have weeds?”

“AN ENEMY HAS DONE THIS!”

“Should we go through and pull out the weeds and burn them?”

“No,” said the farmer, “for then the wheat will be rooted up too. Allow both to grow until harvest. Then go through, pull up the weeds first, and burn them. Then gather the wheat into my barn.”

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This parable also made no sense to the crowd, many of whom were farmers. They couldn’t believe that “the enemy” was “in” the kingdom of heaven. No, the Messiah would rule supreme. There would be no enemy in the true Messiah’s kingdom. (This Jesus didn’t know what he was talking about…)

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Matthew 13:31-35.

Then Jesus told two quick parables, again about things familiar to the people, but deceptively hard for them to understand.

First, His kingdom was like a tiny mustard seed. (Mustard seeds in the Middle East are black and about the size of grains of salt, not like the ones we see in our pickle jars.) When these seeds are planted in a garden, they grow very big, seeming like a tree compared to the garden herbs around it. The tree-plant is so large that “birds of the air” come and make nests in its branches.

Okay, the people “kind of” nodded. They’d seen how big the tiny mustard grows, and they’d probably seen how birds come and nest in it. (After all, mustard seed was often mixed with other grains and fed to pigeons!) But how does this “picture” the Messiah’s kingdom?

(Jesus is prophesying that His kingdom will grow from a small beginning and spread far, so Gentiles will be part of it. The term “birds of the air” often spoke of other nations around Israel. They would come into the kingdom and find security and sustenance too.

Nope, these Jews did NOT picture that!

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Second (and similar) is the parable about a portion of leaven that a woman worked into flour.

They’d all seen the result of that in their own kitchens. That bit of leaven caused the whole batch of dough to rise into many loaves of delicious bread.

So, duh, what’s the rest of the story? They are bewildered. And they disperse, scratching their heads. “What does He mean?”

Jesus did NOT mean for the leaven in this parable to represent sin, as it often does in the Bible. Like the other parables, it represents the kingdom of heaven and shows how it will start small and (eventually) spread from … Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria … to the uttermost parts of the world.

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Matthew 13:36-43.

Later, after Jesus left the crowds, He and the disciples went into the house where they were staying.

“Explain to us the parable of the seeds of the field,” they asked. And Jesus did.

“Once again, the farmer (sower) is Jesus, and the field is the world.

But this time, the good seed is “the sons of the kingdom,” while the weeds are “the sons of the evil one.” The enemy who sowed the weeds is the devil.

The harvest is the close of the age; the reapers are angels.

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will gather all who cause sin and all lawbreakers out of His kingdom and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom.”

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“He who has ears, let him hear.”

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/27): Matthew 13:1-23.

Oct27

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“Why do You speak to them in parables?” Matthew 13:10

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REVIEW – Jesus confronted His adversaries with harsh teaching. The Pharisees’ hearts had hardened like stone, and now they only wanted to declare Him a fraud, even attributing His miracles to Beelzebul’s power. Jesus exposed the evil in their hearts, and they immediately demanded a sign of His authority. After all, they were the “Israel’s Teachers of the Law!

Jesus gave them the signs they should have known as teachers of the O.T.: the signs of Jonah, Nineveh, and the Queen of Sheba.

Then Jesus told the parable of a person freed of an unclean spirit, only to have seven worse spirits return to occupy him… because, after cleaning out the old, he had failed to fill it with “good.” Idolatry had been cleaned out of Israel in the exile, but now, the temple & worship of the LORD had been twisted by these self-righteous keepers of the law, who put weights of rules on the people that God never intended.

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Matthew 13:1-3.

Later that same day, after confronting the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, Jesus went to the Sea and sat down. (Can’t you almost see him take a deep breath of the cool sea breeze and enjoy a few minutes with his disciples around Him, with only the regular sounds of boatyard business.)

But soon the crowds came again, and pressed in to hear Him or touch Him, so that He had to commandeer one of the boats to put some space between them. Then Jesus sat in the boat (perhaps with an anchor holding it a short way from the shore), while the great crowd stood along the beach. Imagine Jesus’ compassionate heart as he looked at all those expectant faces, each wanting something from Him.

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Matthew 13:4-9.

Jesus then began to tell them the first of many parables of the kingdom of heaven. The parable of the Sower is perhaps the best known. Maybe Jesus was inspired by the hillside behind the standing crowd, light green with new shoots of barley or wheat. Lots of promise, but what would the harvest be?

“A sower went out to sow.

As he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.

Other seeds fell on rocky ground where there was little soil, and they sprang up immediately because they had no depth to push through, but when the sun rose they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.

Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. ”

Then Jesus concluded this parable with, “He who has ears, let him hear.”

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Skipping down to Matthew 12:18-23.

Here Jesus tells the meaning of that first parable of His kingdom, which the disciples didn’t even understand.

(The “sower” is the Lord Jesus, see 13:37, and the “seed” is the good Word of God, see Mark 4:14. The soil represents the hearts of those who hear the Word.)

The first hard-packed “path” soil represents those who hear the word of the kingdom but do not understand it (or do not want to). The devil comes along and snatches away even that little bit they heard.

The thin layer of soil atop rocks represents those who hear the “sweet” parts of the message and accept it with joy. But when tribulation or persecution comes (the hot sun, dry wind), they fall away because they have no “root” in the truth.

The thorny, weedy soil represents those who hear the message of the kingdom, but whose lives are so full of the ‘cares of the world’ and the ‘deceitfulness of riches’ that they pay no attention to the things of God. “I’ll look into that another day,” they think, but never do.

The good, fertile soil represents hearts open to the message and ready to receive it. They nurture, feed, and grow good grain, ready for abundant harvests.

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Matthew 13:10-17.

“Yeah, okay, we knew that!” (cough, cough) said the disciples after Jesus explained the parable of the sower and the soil. (NOW they did!)

But they were curious. Jesus had taught the crowds plainly up until then. And He had taught them even more so, privately. So why was He talking in “riddles” now?

Turns out, the parables – those sweet stories we love to tell and illustrate in children’s books – were a JUDGMENT on the people. People, like the first soils who listened to Jesus because it was pleasant and because He healed them, weren’t interested in changed, fruitful lives.

The people “heard” Jesus speak but didn’t want to “hear” His message. These people “saw” His miracles, but didn’t “recognize” Him as their Messiah. And so, even Jesus’ clear preaching would be “taken away” and replaced with parables.

Then Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10,

“You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.

For this people’s heart has grown dull,

and with their ears they can barely hear,

and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,

and understand with their heart,

and TURN,

and I would heal them.”

Then Jesus turns to His own disciples (and to us who are reading this with love for Him in our hearts) and says,

“Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

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How blessed we are!!

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/26): Matthew 12:38-50.

Oct26

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” Matthew 12:38

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REVIEW – Last time, the Pharisees, who were already trying to find a reason to “destroy” Jesus because He showed them up for the pious frauds they were, now claimed that Jesus used the power of Satan (Beelzebul) to free a man who was tormented by demons. Jesus fired back that anyone who attributed the power of the precious Holy Spirit to Satan would not be forgiven here or in the world to come. That sin was the “unforgivable sin.”

“Out of the abundance of the HEART the mouth speaks,” Jesus told them. Good people speak good from the good treasure of their hearts, but evil people can’t help but speak evil from the dark depths of their evil hearts.

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Matthew 12: 38-39.

Brushing off that serious rebuke and warning from Jesus, the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law, demanded that Jesus “show them a sign” to “prove” His authority to speak that way to them.

“An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.” Jesus fires back, and then continues. ‘NO SIGN will be given except the sign of Jonah.”

Jesus meant two things by “the sign of Jonah.”

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Matthew 12:40-42.

First, and obvious, Jesus compared Jonah’s 3 days inside the “great fish” to the 3 days He would be in the tomb before His resurrection. This was future, however, and meant nothing to the religious leaders at the time. (After Jesus arose, they spent a lot of time bribing and lying to cover it up.)

The teachers of the law would have known the second “sign” of Jonah very well.

Jonah was one of their prophets. His story is in four chapters in the book named after him. Yes, he disobeyed God and ran from the mission to preach to Nineveh (the capital city of their dreaded enemies), got tossed out of a boat, and was swallowed by that fish.

THEN, after being coughed up, he did what God called him to do in the first place: he went to Nineveh, preached to them, and… lo, and behold, the whole city repented in sackcloth and ashes!

Jesus said that the repenting people of Nineveh would rise up to judge these current “religious” leaders of the people on the day of judgment for their rejecting one greater than the prophet – their own Messiah.

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To drive the point home, so these teachers of Old Testament law would understand, Jesus said they would be judged against the Queen of Sheba too. She traveled long and hard on a sincere quest into the truth of Solomon’s wisdom. THESE Pharisees had Jesus right there, so much greater than Solomon, and yet they rejected, scorned, and even plotted to kill Him.

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Matthew 12:43-45.

Then Jesus tells a parable that is difficult to understand at first glance. But He was still talking to the religious leaders who had demanded a sign so they would believe.

In this story, there is a “person,” an “unclean spirit,” a “house,” an “unnamed housecleaner,” and “seven other more evil spirits.”

The story tells of Israel’s past and the many false idols they came to worship and even set up in the temple. God punished them with an exile to Babylon and the destruction of their magnificent temple.

This was the sweeping out of the “unclean spirit” among God’s people. In His mercy, the people returned and rebuilt the Temple, having learned their lesson about idols. And yet, a greater evil now inhabited the Temple: sacrifices, religious services, and teaching; the proud, self-sufficient Teachers of the Law, who bound the people with their minute rules more than the idols had.

The “last state” with the religious leaders sinning and binding the people in more and more rules, and keeping them away from their Messiah, was worse than the first condition.

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The religious leaders probably “got” what Jesus was saying, if the crowds did not. They simmered and plotted His destruction … instead of recognizing their error and turning to Him.

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Matthew 12:46-50.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the crowd, Jesus’ earthly family stood asking to speak to Him. His mother, Mary, and his brothers (two or more of James, Joseph, Simon & Jude). Someone called out to Jesus to alert Him.

Now you might think He would turn and signal a path for His mom and brothers, and hug Mary when she came near. But no. He announced what seems to us like rudeness.

“Who is my mothers, and who are my brothers?”

And gesturing towards His disciples, added, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whosoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Jesus did not put down His earthly family; after all, THEY needed Him as their Savior as well. In His mission and destination on the cross, those who believed in Him as the saving Messiah were “doing the will of His Father in heaven.”

(Mary would do just that, and at least two of His 1/2 brothers did as well: James and Jude).


Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/22): Matthew 12:1-21.

Oct22

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” Matthew 12:7b.

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REVIEW – After denouncing the local cities Jesus had been ministering in for not being receptive to Him or His message, Jesus turned from fiery judgment to a gentle and lowly offer. “Take MY yoke upon you and learn from Me. MY yoke is easy, and MY burden is light. You will find REST for your souls.”

The “rest” Jesus speaks about here points to a permanent condition in God’s grace, apart from the constant striving to do good works.

And this seems to lead directly into today’s reading and two incidents that happened on the Sabbath, the Day of REST.

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Matthew 12:1-2.

As Jesus walked away from the town with His disciples (who had returned from their missionary outreach), they passed through some grain fields. The disciples were hungry, and as they walked, they plucked heads of grain to eat.

(In Deuteronomy 23:25, God permits satisfying immediate hunger this way. However, harvesting grain for profit on the Sabbath was forbidden.

It seems the Pharisees, “the teachers of the law,” didn’t know the difference! “Look,” they said to Jesus, “your disciples are doing what is NOT LAWFUL to do on the Sabbath.”

Sheesh! Talk about showing their ignorance!

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Matthew 12:3-5.

Jesus catches them in this error by presenting two scenarios, showing that using holy things to satisfy man’s hunger (and not PROFIT) was okay with God.

1) Before David was king, he and his men were running for their lives from the crazy King Saul; they arrived at the Tabernacle and requested of the priest that they might eat the “shewbread” that was weekly set before the LORD in the Holy Place.

This was meant only for the ministering priests, but Ahimelech, the priest, was on David’s side and, after learning that he and his men were ceremonially clean, got the bread for them to eat. (He later lost his life for that when Saul heard about it and massacred all the priests in the area.) (1 Samuel 21-22)

Sabbath laws were not meant to restrict acts of necessity or mercy. They were to benefit man and glorify God.

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2) Jesus also cites the priests in the temple who continue to carry out their duties on the Sabbath, which in other circumstances, “could” be seen as work.

Jesus adds, “I tell you, something greater than the temple is here,” speaking of Himself.

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“And if you had known what it means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.'”

Jesus had used the “quote” before in Matt. 9:6, when the Pharisees were condemning Him for eating with tax collectors and “sinners.”

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Samuel used a similar version to King Saul when he had disobeyed God: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

Hosea 6:6: “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

And Micah 6:6-8: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?? — He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.“

Hearts, not hands, are what God is interested in. Attitudes, not performance.

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Matthew 12:9-14.

Jesus walks on and then enters their synagogue. Then, almost to drive his point home, He heals a man with a withered hand. There. Inside the synagogue. In front of their shocked, angry faces.

“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath? He asked them.

Will you not help your sheep if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath? Of which is more valuable? A human, made in the image of God, or your animal that you keep for your own profit?

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The healed man left the synagogue with Jesus, rejoicing at his restored hand. Meanwhile, these biased, envy-filled Pharisees “went out and conspired against Him, how to DESTROY Him.”

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Matthew 12:18-21.

Jesus was well aware of their evil machinations and withdrew from there. However, many followed Him for what He could do for them.

And Jesus healed them ALL, confirming the prophecy about the Messiah in Isaiah 42:1-5.

Matthew says this proved that Israel’s chosen Messiah did not come with political agendas, military campaigns, and great fanfare. He would not try to stir up a revolution.

Instead, he came with gentleness and meekness. He would restore and rekindle those the “world” thought were useless. He would show tenderness and compassion to the lowest, the weak, and the lost.

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (10/20): Matthew 11:1-19.

Oct20

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Matthew 11:3.

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REVIEW – Jesus had sent off His twelve disciples/apostles to learn how to bring the gospel to the Jews in cities and towns. Jesus also empowered them with “signs and wonders” to prove the truth of their message.

He ALSO gave them many things to expect. Just as He Himself was sometimes rejected, or even after a healing, ignored, THEY would experience the same. And more. Eventually, they would follow their master into harsher persecution, arrest, trials, and even martyrdom. They were to be prepared and steady in their commitment. The END would make it all good.

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Matthew 11:1-3.

As His disciples went out, Jesus continued teaching and preaching in the towns of Galilee.

(Imagine this ministry spreading everywhere! People heard of healings, cleansings, and other miracles from all directions. The dead were even being raised. It was a miraculous time. Glory be! Surely the Messiah had come! The news spread far and wide.)

Deep in the dungeon of Herod Antipas’ fortress in Perea (across the Jordan), even John the Baptist heard. He wasn’t sure he was hearing it right. All this compassion and helping people… John hadn’t pictured Jesus that way!

(“I baptize you with water for repentance, but HE will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and FIRE.“ John had preached. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire!”) Matthew 3:11-12.

So John sent some of his faithful disciples (who brought him food and news in prison) to ask Jesus what was going on.

They said, “Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” How frustrating it must have been for John, confined, hearing second- and third-hand news without seeing for himself.

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Matthew 11:4-6.

Jesus did not say, “Sure, Cuz, it’s me. That fire-and-brimstone stuff comes later. Stay cool!”

No, Jesus showed and told the messengers from John JUST WHAT the Messiah was prophesied to do at His first coming. Jesus healed the blind, made the lame walk, cleansed lepers, made the deaf hear, raised the dead, and preached the “good news” to the poor.

And John recognized the passages in Isaiah as soon as his own disciples brought back the news.

Isaiah 29:18-19, “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exalt the Holy One of Israel.”

Isaiah 35:4-6, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.”

This describes the Messiah’s first coming. Each of those passages goes on to describe the second coming as well, when evil will be defeated, and the King will rule in justice and holiness.

John had missed that, but when he heard Jesus’ answer, he remembered and realized, YES!! Jesus WAS the Messiah of Israel, the one He’d prepared the way for.

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Matthew 11:7-17.

As John’s messengers left, Jesus turned to the crowd.

“What did you expect to see out in the wilderness?” Jesus asked. “A reed shaken by the wind? A man dressed in soft clothes? NO. But a prophet. MORE than a prophet. John was God’s messenger sent before Me to prepare the way before Me.”

“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”

John was greater than the Old Testament prophets because he actually SAW with his eyes and personally participated in the fulfillment of what the others only prophesied.

“Yet… the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

All believers after the cross are greater still, because they participate in the full understanding and experience of Christ’s actual atoning work (which John only foresaw).

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Matthew 11:12-19.

This next part is a little confusing, but Jesus is probably confirming what He said earlier: entering the kingdom is difficult. “The violent take it by force.” He says, “Everyone forces his way into it.” Meaning the way is truly narrow and hard to travel.

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Then Jesus says a strange thing. “If you are willing to accept it, John IS Elijah who is to come.” WHOA!

Of course the people KNEW that the prophet of old HAD NOT DIED. Elijah was taken up alive in a chariot of fire. But hadn’t John the Baptist, himself, denied that he was Elijah? What did Jesus mean?

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Yes, John ‘had come’ “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17), but if they had believed, John would have been ‘the fulfillment of the Elijah prophecies’….

Interested? Check out Mark 9:11-13 and Revelation 11:3-6, in light of your knowledge of the Old Testament.

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Then Jesus compares Himself with John and says people like neither example!

John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said: “He has a demon.”

On the other hand, Jesus came eating and drinking, and they called Him “A glutton and drunkard, and friend of tax collectors and sinners.”

Sheesh!

Thank goodness, Jesus came to please only His Father and do His will… not what fickle people thought He should be and do! Where would we be then??

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (9/28): Matthew 5:33-37.

Sep28

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“.” Matthew

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REVIEW – Last time, Jesus taught about adultery and divorce in His kingdom of heaven, where humility, gentleness, mercy, and purity of heart should be found. Betrayal in the form of unfaithfulness should be the ONLY reason for divorce, and even then, it would be better to confess your sins to one another (James 5:16), forgive, and be reconciled.

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Matthew 6:33-36.

“You’ve heard it said by those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn‘.” (See Leviticus 19:12, Numbers 30:2, and Deuteronomy 23:21, 23.)

In other words, if you make a vow to God or to another person, fulfill it quickly and completely. That’s pretty easy to understand. If you say you will do something, do it. Be honest and honorable.

Now you may have been “less than honest” in the past, so others no longer believe your promises. What are you to do?

In this case, Jesus says not to multiply your sins. “Do not take an oath, either by heaven or the earth, or by Jerusalem.” (to make it sound like you are really, REALLY sincere this time) For these are holy to God. Instead of making your vow or promise more sure, you are profaning the things of God.

(Isaiah 66:1 quotes the LORD saying, “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.” Psalm 48:2 says that Jerusalem is “the city of the Great King,” referring to God, not David.)

Jesus says you aren’t even to swear “by your head,” for you can’t make one hair white or black. (Well, today, you CAN by using hair dye, but He means that when you swear, you can’t.)

And no one will believe you more if you “swear by your grandmother’s grave,” or your “class ring,” or by “crossing your heart,” or by “linking pinkie fingers.”

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Matthew 5:37.

So what is the solution for someone who sincerely wants to live in the light of the kingdom of heaven?

Jesus makes it simple. Just say “Yes.” Or “No.” And mean it. “Anything more than this comes from evil. (the evil one).

Start now; it may take a while for others to believe your promises. Like the LORD, your word should be true. Always.

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (9/11): Matthew 2:19-23.

Sep11

Remembering the lives lost in the events of September 11, 2001

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“He shall be called a Nazarene.” Matthew 2:23

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REVIEW – After the visit from the Magi, who were seeking to WORSHIP the young King of the Jews, the evil-hearted Herod mercilessly slaughtered all the baby boys under two in Bethlehem, in an attempt to DESTROY the young King of the Jews. Certainly, he was filled with and controlled by the devil, who, since God’s promise of a Savior in Genesis, had been trying to stop God’s plan of redemption.

However, God warned Joseph in a dream shortly after the Magi departed to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt ASAP. Again, Joseph immediately obeyed. The gifts the Magi had brought were instrumental in their escape and their livelihood in Egypt.

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Mathew 2:19-21.

King Herod did not last long after the massacre of the children. He was already full of a despicable disease from which he’d tried every known cure without success. In his madness, he’d already killed his ‘beloved’ wife Mariamme, and many of his sons and relatives in an attempt to keep them from deposing him.

But God has the last word when a king is dethroned, and a man dies.

The great Herod succumbed to his disease … and Jerusalem rejoiced … for a minute. He still had a few sons by other wives who could take his throne. Who would it be?

The Roman emperor, Augustus, would decide. After some scrambling and many bribes, in which Herod Antipas tried for the spot, the wicked and brutal Archelaus, son of Herod’s Samaritan wife, became the new king of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. (Antipas was sent to rule over Galilee and Perea. He was the “Herod” of Jesus’ ministry.)

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(NOTE: Archelaus was so ineffective that Rome eventually deposed him and appointed a series of governors. Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of Judea.)

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Anyway, God sent an angel in a dream to Joseph saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”

Joseph got up, took Jesus and Mary, and went to the land of Israel. (Such immediate obedience!)

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Matthew 2:22-23.

As Joseph and his family entered the southern border of Israel, he heard that Archelaus had been made king, and he was afraid. Perhaps he’d been planning to return to Bethlehem, where they had lived for two years after Jesus’ birth. But it was so close to Jerusalem and the king’s residence. Could another massacre happen?

God did not let his chosen caretaker of Jesus fear for even a moment. He again warned him in a dream NOT to settle in Judea, but to return all the way back to Nazareth, that tiny, “nowhere” town on the side of a hill in Galilee.

And Joseph obeyed. They probably traveled the unfamiliar coastal road to keep out of the attention of Archelaus.

Did the young couple remember that journey to Bethlehem years ago with Mary pregnant and about to deliver? Did they remember that first stable where Jesus was born, and the arrival of the shepherds with their wondrous story of an angel choir and message? And then the home where those amazing Magi visited? And that horrible night of flight.

And now back to sleepy Nazareth, where Mary had been scorned for her pre-nuptial pregnancy. Would those people remember? What would they think of Jesus? Would they call Him a…?

“And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.'”

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(NOTE: there isn’t a specific O.T. scripture that says the Messiah would be “called a Nazarene.” Matthew, as with his quotes before, likes to “picture” or allegorize his points.)

Consider this: the root of the word Nazareth is nezer, or “branch” or “shoot”, and remember one of Matthew’s purposes is to show Jesus as the true descendant of David, and the King of the Jews.

Now, consider these passages:

  • Isaiah 11:1 – “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse (David’s father), and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him…”
  • Jeremiah 23:5 – “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king… “
  • Jeremiah 33:15 – “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and He shall execute justice and righteousness for the land.”
  • Zechariah 38b – “…behold, I will bring my servant, the Branch.”

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These O.T. prophecies pointed towards Jesus’ 1,000-year reign on earth, still future to us, but by presenting them and comparing them to the title Jesus will be known for on earth – Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus, the Nazarene – Matthew is hoping his readers will make the connection and “see” the Branch of David, and the King EVERY TIME they hear and read about Jesus.

Let US do the same.

Reading the Gospels in 2026 (9/10): Matthew 2:13-18.

Sep10

Read and Believe in Jesus.

“And he (Joseph) rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt…” Matthew 2:14

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REVIEW – A delegation of wise men came from the East to Jerusalem seeking the One who had been born “King of the Jews.” This put Herod “the Great” in a panic, for he thought HE was the king of the Jews. Herod asked the religious leaders where the Messiah was to be born, and they quoted Scripture, identifying Bethlehem.

Herod told the wise men about the little town to the southeast, and then that sly wolf asked them sweetly, ‘WHEN’ they had first seen their “guiding star.” After they’d mounted camels and were leaving, Herod called to them, “When you find Him, bring me word so I can come and worship Him too.”

The wealthy Eastern Magi easily found the house where the King of the Jews was living, for the “shining light” stood right over the roof (much like it had over the Tabernacle in the wilderness). They worshipped the Boy King, gave gifts to His parents, and then quietly departed, taking a way home that avoided Jerusalem, for God had warned them not to return to Herod.

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Matthew 2:13-15.

Joseph and Mary, with the young Jesus on her hip, waved to the camel train as it faded into the sunset. They came back inside, still in a state of wonder, hardly believing until they saw again the gifts the Magi had brought. Then, it seems that as soon as they retired, the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

“Rise, take the child and His mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.”

Joseph must have sat up immediately and awakened Mary, who gently woke Jesus. Hurriedly, they packed their few belongings, some food, and Joseph’s tools into sacks, along with the Magi’s gifts, and loaded a small donkey cart. Within hours of the wise men leaving, Joseph had his family on the road to Egypt.

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(What a righteous man. No wonder God chose Joseph to care for His Son during the boy’s growing-up years. Immediate obedience, without question: how many of us could or would obey so quickly?)

The Magi’s gold paid for the trip and a place to stay in Egypt. The myrrh and frankincense from the East (very rare and valuable in Egypt) helped to keep the family until Joseph could get established again.

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(What perfect timing! We can always trust our omniscient God with fearful surprises and “unknown” futures. He is THERE before we are. And He has already taken care of our expenses.)

Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I have called my Son,” which speaks of God bringing the nation of Israel out of captivity. Here, Matthew uses it more as a “picture” or “allegory” than a prophecy.

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Matthew 2:16-18.

Herod soon realized the Magi had tricked him.

How long would it take to travel the 6-8 miles to Bethlehem, look and ask around, and find that kid? Even if they stayed a few days, they should have returned to Jerusalem by now. He was furious.

He called his most devious and loyal henchmen and sent them to Bethlehem. Their orders? To kill all the male children in the town and the region who were two years old or younger.

The above line is easy to type, but oh, the horror of such a plan to consider and imagine. Mothers and babies screaming as the henchmen wield their huge swords, leaving the little ones dead and in pieces. Parents trying to hide the little ones, but having them wrenched from their arms and slaughtered before their eyes. Oh, the weeping and wailing! The heartbreak. The ghastly horror!

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Again, Matthew quotes O.T. scripture to describe (more than predict) the horrific massacre.

Jeremiah 31:15 says, “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children: she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Jeremiah’s prophecy was of the Babylonian captivity, when weeping and wailing accompanied the deaths and deportation of the Jews from their homeland. Their lamentation prefigured the pain that occurred that day in Bethlehem.

But, horrendous as it was – the death of all those sweet boys, the hopes of their fathers and mothers – the more atrocious idea was that Herod knowingly attempted to kill Israel’s promised Messiah. It was the first of many attempts, and it would finally happen, but only in God’s way and in God’s time.

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (9/7): Matthew 1:1-17.

Sep7

Read and Believe in Jesus.

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INTRO – (It’s long, I know. Sorry!)

Matthew’s gospel was the first of the four gospels to be written … at about 27 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is only one of two gospels to be written by an apostle, although many believe that Mark is simply Peter’s gospel as he dictated it to the young man.

Matthew’s account is the longest of the four.

Matthew’s gospel is not written chronologically, so don’t be confused to see some events placed out of order. Instead, he writes the life of Jesus in a series of FIVE themes, each begun with a major speech (or discourse) and followed by narration of Jesus actions or other teachings.

There is also a short prologue and epiloge.

Matthew’s other name is Levi, a name that the other gospel writers use for him “before” Jesus called him. We don’t read of Jesus changing his name, like with Simon/Peter, so perhaps he changed it himself, or he used a second name. Matthew means “gift of the Lord.”

Matthew/Levi was a Publican, or tax collector. He was very wealthy and powerful. People feared and hated him as he sat in his booth at the crossroads and demanded the money owed to Rome. He was considered a traitor to the Jews, working for the enemy.

Perhaps it was a thirst for wealth and defference that made Levi volunteer to serve Rome. After he collected the listed tax for the Empire, he could add however much else he wanted for himself. And he did. His own people got poorer as he got richer.

But Matthew must have had an ache or vacant spot in his heart that the money did not completely satisfy, because when Jesus passed by and called him, Luke 5:27-28, reports that Levi ” left everything, rose, and followed Him.”

Perhaps Levi/Matthew had been hearing reports of Jesus, but it seens that it was the event where a paralytic’s friends let him down through a roof into a crowed house so he could see Jesus that softened Matthew’s heart. For the report was that Jesus not only healed the paralysis, but “forgave the man’s sins.” Mabe that was the deep, deep longing that Levi had too.

Right after this incident, Jesus passed by Levi’s tax booth and said, “Follow me.”

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Matthew presents Jesus as Messiah, and the King of the Jews. He writes his gospel mostly for a Jewish audience. He quotes O.T. scriptures 60 times, does not explain Jewish customs or holidays (because the Jews would know them), he refers to Jesus as “the son of David,” and he guards against Jewish sensibilities regarding the Name of God, rererring to the “kingdom of heaven” instead of the “kingdom of God” as in the other gospels.

His purpose in writing the gospel: to show that Jesus is the Jewish nation’s long-awaited MESSIAH.

Matthew’s opening geneology of Jesus documents Jesus’ credentials as Israel’s KING.

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Matthew 1:1-17

Matthew first refers to Jesus Christ as the son of David.

To David the Lord God had promised a descendant who would reign as king forever. (See 2 Samuel 8:16-17, the familiar Isaiah 9:6-7, and Psalm 89:35-36)

Matthew’s genealogy is divided into three 14-name sections, each either beginning or ending with David. They are not complete lists, but rather show three times/eras. Abraham to King David; King David to the deportation to Babylon; and after the deportation to the birth of Christ.

(If you’ve studied the history of the kings, you will know that because of their horrible evil, the last kings of Israel were removed from David’s line of promise. However, if you check Haggai 2:23, you will see that God basically put the promise (His signat ring) back onto Zerubbabel, the grandson of the exiled to Babylon king to whom God showed favor. Jesus’s Kingly line to David’s throne is then passed along through Zerubbabel’s descendents to Joseph, the “legal” father of Jesus.)

Matthew also begins with Abraham, the founder of the Jewish people.

God also promised Abraham a descendant “in whom all families/nations of the earth would be blessed.” Genesis 12:3. The Messiah.

So Matthew lays out his two purposes, to show JESUS as the promised Jewish MESSIAH, and the promised KING who will sit on David’s eternal throne.

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One other thing to notice: the inclusion of FOUR women in this genealogy before he even gets to Mary. (This is very unusual in genealogies of the time.)

  • Verse 3 – Tamar. She was Judah’s daughter-in-law whom he got pregnant, believing she was a prostitute. (Genesis 38:13-30)
  • Verse 5 – Rahab. She was a prostitute living in Jericho who saved the two Israeli spies, who then brought her into the “family.” ((Joshua 2:1-22)
  • Verse 5 – Ruth, a Moabite woman, daughter-in-law of Naomi who returned to Israel with her and married the rich landowner, who became her “redeemer.” (Book of Ruth)
  • Verse 6 – The wife of Uriah, whom David (yes, our David) raped, took into his house when he found she was pregnant, then had her husband killed to “cover up” his dirty deed. Matthew honors her innocent husband by naming Uriah. She was, of course, Bathsheba. (2 Samuel 11:1-27).

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And now, whew, we are ready for “the Birth Jesus Christ.” 1:18 (tomorrow)

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Reading the Gospels in 2026 (8/10) John 15:1-17

Aug10

Read and believe in Jesus

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide,” John 15:16

The Gospel according to John

REVIEW – Jesus is privately teaching his precious eleven disciples in the upper room. The time is short, and He has much to say. He emphasizes their loving Him and each other sacrificially. He stresses obedience to His words. He promises the Spirit of Truth, who will come and be with and live in them forever. He promises them extraordinary peace in the unknown things to come, and answers their prayers. And although He is going to die, He promises to see them (and only the believers) again when He is resurrected.

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John 15:1-9.

And now, Jesus teaches those promises in an extended metaphor. Many times He has used agriculture in His teaching, mostly because that’s what the common people knew. Also, Jewish people were very familiar with the picture of “the Vine.”

The Old Testament scriptures used “the vine” to picture Israel.

Read Psalm 80 and Isaiah 5, if you can.

The Lord brought this “vine” out of Egypt, prepared a fertile place for it to be planted, cultivated, fed, protected it, and expected good grapes and delicious wine from it. Instead, it (Israel) brought forth sour grapes, bitter grapes, and let herself be overridden by boars and trampled. So the Lord let this vineyard fall into ruin.

But NOW, Jesus says that HE is the true “vine” chosen by His Father, the “vinedresser.” And the Father sees that it bears fruit by cutting away the dead branches (like Judas) and aggressively pruning the ones that remain (true believers) so they produce more “fruit of righteousness.” (Read Galatians 5:16-26)

Jesus tells the disciples how they can be fruitful branches. (NOTE: They are “already clean” by the Word Jesus spoke to them, vs 15:3.) But now, they must “abide” or “remain” in Him, to “stay around” and allow Him, by His Spirit, to abide in them.

It’s leaning on Him, trusting in Him, allowing Him to do His work of pruning, loving Him and others, and obeying His commands. This is what produces strong branches, fit for bearing heavy yields of fruit.

Oh… and remembering that apart from Him – doing things on our own, in our own wisdom and strength – we can not even produce a single withered raisin.

Jesus says that the Father is glorified when we bear the fruits of righteousness and of testimony. Bearing fruit proves that we are indeed His children, disciples of His Beloved Son. “And as the Father has loved Jesus, so Jesus loves us.”

“ABIDE, stay, IN MY LOVE.”

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John 15:10-11. And Jesus tells us how.

“If you keep my commandments, you WILL abide in my love, JUST AS I HAVE kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

Abiding in Jesus’ LOVE is simply OBEYING Him.

And Jesus is the perfect example, having done (and will do ) ALL that the Father has ordained. And what is the outcome? No, not drugery, defeat, depression, but … JOY. It gave Jesus joy to obey His Father (even to die), and He wants this joy to be in His disciples too.

Yes, sometimes, it’s hard to obey. “Give your life for the cause of the Gospel. Give your money, your keys, your car, your home, your children to the LORD, for His use. Give it all. Take up your cross, and simply follow Jesus.

Joy?

Yep, if done in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.

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John 15:12-17

And Jesus says we are His FRIENDS if we do what He commands us. Friends, not slaves. Intimate friends. Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you.”

And “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

Yes, Jesus was speaking to his chosen disciples from Galilee, but as we’ll see in chapter 17:20-21, He is speaking to true believers down through the years too.

“These things I command YOU, so that you will love one another.”

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